Rats Burrow Under Indore's Oldest Flyover, Create 5-Foot-Deep Crater

Indore, the economic capital of Madhya Pradesh and the country's cleanest city, is once again in the headlines and not for the right reasons. Just days after a horrifying incident in which rats gnawed at newborn babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of a government hospital, killing two infants, another shocking case of civic negligence has surfaced.

On Sunday, a five-foot-deep crater appeared on Shastri Bridge, one of Indore's oldest and busiest flyovers. The cause, officials now admit, was not heavy rainfall or poor construction but rats.

According to preliminary reports, when a team from the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) arrived for unrelated maintenance work, they discovered that rats had burrowed extensively beneath the bridge, hollowing out the soil. The loose earth gave way, creating a deep crater right in front of the Punjab National Bank stretch of the bridge.

Traffic was sparse at the time of the incident. Officials said that if vehicles had been moving at peak hour, the collapse could have triggered a major accident. The police immediately barricaded the area and diverted vehicles to alternate routes.

By Monday, the Municipal Corporation, along with engineers from Shri Govindram Seksaria Institute of Technology and Science (SGSITS) and Public Works officials, had carried out an emergency inspection and filled the crater. But what they found during the repairs was alarming over 20 rat burrows were detected under the bridge.

Public Works in-charge Rajendra Rathore said the section where the crater appeared had a 25 to 30-year-old slab that had weakened over time. "The slab had rotted, and rats had burrowed through it, worsening the situation," he said. Rathore added that a tea stall was earlier located near the damaged portion, where leftover food and offerings attracted rats. "The rodents even entered the V-pole drainage holes of the bridge," he admitted, adding that the footpath and drainage system will be redesigned to prevent further damage.

This is not the first time the bridge has faced such a problem. Ten months ago, more than 200 rat holes were found in the same structure during a previous repair drive. Despite that, no lasting preventive action was taken.

Built nearly seven decades ago, Shastri Bridge now stands as a symbol of Indore's crumbling civic vigilance where rats can chew through both infrastructure and accountability, exposing how one of India's "smartest" cities still struggles to manage its most basic threats.